Winter Solace, Pt. 1

I arrived in LA on Thursday night and immediately drove to Knotts Berry Farm. Not to ride GhostRider - the park was closed! No, I went straight for Mrs. Knotts Chicken To Go! I ordered a chicken dinner and a piece of boysenberry pie. Then I went to the Berry Market and bought a bottle of Boysenberry Punch Concentrate. It wasn't in a frozen can like I imagined, but a big 32 oz. plastic bottle. How convenient! Let's buy some more, shall we?

Six bottles and a coupla postcards later, I finally left the market and made my way to the Best Western Buena Park Motel. Eh. It was a two star joint, and for $39 I considered it a great value. Now, let's buy a can of sprite and mix us up a batch of Berry Brew.

Mmmmmmm!!!! What a way to start off a trip!

Friday morning I went right back to Knotts. GhostRider was testing its trains as I walked into the station and I got the first backseat ride of the day, alongside a Knotts Berry Farm employee. I decided to use this day to get my fill of GhostRider, as Saturday could be very busy and with all the activities surrounding the Winter Solace event, my riding time could be severely limited.

Boy, did I get my money's worth! GhostRider was a walk-on all day. I rode continuously for three hours solid, riding in either the front or the back or next to the back. I was *thrilled* to see two train operation as well. The copper train was my favorite, and the coaster was even better than I remembered, with one minor exception: the reprofiled helix. It definitely made for a more comfortable, bearable ride, but overall I'd have to say I see it as a negative thing. This was one element, along with "the drop," that I actually came to fear. And just like the Georgia Cyclone, I appreciate those rare coasters that actually contain moments of sheer dread. But even with the change, I'm happy to say the helix still provides a good yank somewhere in the middle.

I rode GhostRider all day long, breaking only twice - once to go to In-N-Out for lunch and once to ride, what else? Montezooma's Revenge. This is everyone's favorite Schwarzkopf shuttle, and with good reason! The flywheel launch is spectacular, the loop is incredibly big (and gives a good woozy feeling on the return), there's no braking in the station as the train flies backward, and the train goes aaaaall the waaaaay up the back spike, giving backseat riders an incredible amount of airtime!

I rode Montezooma's Revenge continuously for over an hour, then it was back to end the night on GhostRider. I'm so glad I chose to spend my day this way. I figured the park was likely to be crowded on Saturday, the forecast was calling for rain, and with all the activities being scheduled around the Winter Solace event, my ride time would likely be limited. This way I could get my fill of GhostRider and enjoy the event no matter how I spent the time.

Disneyland was open until 10 and I had planned to meet Ted Ansley and Robb Alvey after Knotts had closed, but it started to rain and I thought it best to call it a night. Instead I went back to the Chicken To Go market and ordered another piece of boysenberry pie and a Chicken and Dumplings dinner, upon recommendation from Spatch. Thank you, Sir Spatula, my good friend! The dumpling was *huge* and the chicken came in a separate container, allowing one to carefully control their chicken to dumpling distribution. And of course, I would be remiss if I failed to pay homage to the heavenly biscuits that accompany every meal.

I took my dinner back to my room, whipped up another batch of boysenberry brew, and settled in for a cozy night of comfort food and what can only be described as wierd LA TV. I became well informed about the plight of native americans and how important it is that all tribes share the wealth by voting YES on Proposition 1A. Apparently there are so many propositions on the California ballot that they ran out of numbers and were forced to employ letters as well. I also learned that propositions 30 and 31 would only cost taxpayers a few dollars a year and would stomp out big industry. And there is a woman who is voting YES on proposition 22 because sure, gays have the right to live their lives as they choose, but they shouldn't have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of us, and no matter *what* they say, proposition 22 sends the *right* message to our kids about values, family and committment, and that marriage should be limited..... between a man.........and a woman.....let's keep it that way. This woman must feel very strongly about her convictions because I saw her over a gazillion times that night on every single channel. What a bitch.

The next day I woke up very early for the Knotts Winter Solace event. I was at the park by 6:45 and was immediately greeted by Jeff Johnson bearing Krispy Kreme donuts! Thanks Jeff! I was then immediately greeted by Robb Alvey videotaping me eating my Krispy Kreme donut. Thanks Robb! Wow, lots of people came up and introduced themselves: Matthew "mamoosh" Sullivan and his father, Mike "Bassississt" Miller, David "CD3K" Lipnicky, Paul Clemens, Dan Chase and Eliot "Locoboy." Later in the day I would meet Chris "Scratchy6" and Jake "Messyjake" Messimer. I really didn't get a chance to meet, talk or ride with everyone as much as I would have liked, and I'm sorry for that. Where was FunType? I know he was there but didn't get to meet him. It was also great seeing many of the California RRCers I'd met once or twice before - Coasterbuf Greg, Erik Elness, Eric Gieszl, Sean Winder and Taylor. This is the second time I've met a large contingent of California coaster enthusiasts and they are genuinely nice and alot of fun to hang out with.

I am *VERY* disappointed I didn't get to meet Keith Blevins. Keith is my personal advisor and a lurker on RRC and I was so hoping to put a face to the man. I guess he is destined to be my wizard of Oz.

I would also like to say that I really felt Spatch should have been here. I mentioned this to Dave Sandborg as we were about to hit "the drop." Spatch, I hope it brings you comfort to know that you were thought of during a moment of terror.

I spent most of the day with GhostRider Wes Lagatolla, Wes' friend Chris, Robb and Sarah Alvey (Sarah, we didn't get our rides!), Craig Arbour, Jeff Johnson, Cindy Stout, Shawn Mamros (it was *so* nice hanging out with you, Shawn!), Dave Sandborg (now, about that Seattle trip...),Ted "4x4x4x4" Ansley and David "Door Prize winner" Lipnicky.. Alot of the California contingent as well as the Rolling Regans and Jim "I am everywhere" Raimar and his friend Jerry popped in and out throughout the day, especially Locoboy, Mike Miller, Dan Chase and Matthew Sullivan. I'm sorry I never even saw Paul Clemens after morning ERT - Paul, I wanted to talk to you!

We registered for door prizes and were given a packet of goodies including an event patch and tickets for lunch and an event t-shirt. I *love* the t-shirt, but it suffers somewhat from an identity crisis. Is it an event shirt or a Cedar Fair property shirt? The front was a replica of the patch, but the back listed all the Cedar Fair properties (including Visionland) and their new-for-2000 rides. How embarressing to see Worlds of Fun: Boomerang. Anyway, it's a gray t-shirt with berry purple print and I love it!

Knotts practically opened up the entire park to us at 7:00 a.m! All the coasters, save Windjammer (oh my, what an unfortunate choice of words), plus Supreme Scream were running. GhostRider opened up at 8:30, which was nice as it gave us an excuse to ride everything. Supreme Scream just plain freaks me out. It's too high. It scares me everytime. A large group of enthusiasts gathered at the exit of Supreme Scream and proceeded to perform the ERT shuffle. This entails lots of standing around and socializing. I hate the ERT shuffle! I said see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya and hightailed it to Montezooma's Revenge. Thankfully Dave S. and Cindy came with me.

Montezooma's Revenge provided the two highlights of the morning for me. First was seeing Dave Sandborg get his first ride. The train overshot the brakes, and Dave immediately recognized that not only was this the best Schwarzkopf shuttle he'd ever ridden, but that he'd likely had his best ride of the day on it!

The other highlight was one I will never.... ever.... forget. I was in the backseat with Dave when I saw Matthew Sullivan standing in the queue towards the front. Just as we were about to launch I yelled "Matthew!" and stuck my hand out. Well, Matthew instinctively stuck his arm out for a handslap just as we launched. Our hands came together in a perfect handslap at 40 mph. OOOOOOOOOOOOOH MYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!! The sting was so bad I yelped just like an old dog through the entire ride, then I started laughing because I couldn't believe what we had just done. When we pulled back into the station I immediately saw Matthew shaking his hand and having what was likely the same expression on his face that I had on mine. It stung for almost an hour afterwards - when will I ever learn? I will *never* do that again!!!

We headed over to GhostRider for ERT. Oh lordy, I don't know what they did to this track overnight but it was already running well above the previous day's performance, with both the front and back giving great airtime and laterals. Robb Alvey filmed our first ride and it was a doozy! Dave Sandborg had a *BIG* ol' smile on his face - he was clearly impressed. And even before we boarded, Shawn Mamros told us he was *that* close to naming GhostRider his number one. I knew by nightfall we were in for one wicked ride!

We got lots of rides on GhostRider that morning, and we stopped riding once the GP was allowed in at 10:00. Alot of us went over to the Ghost Town Bakery and spent the next half hour or so unwinding, buying GhostRider merchandise (I bought a block of engraved GR wood) and enjoying breakfast items so good you know they're bad for you! It was also here that many in our group were introduced to Knotts Berry Punch for the first time. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like this drink!

I also noticed some price discrepancies here. The bakery out front charges $2.50 for many of the same items that only cost $2.10 at the Ghost Town Bakery near GhostRider. I would later discover a price discrepancy between GhostRider clothing sold at the GhostRider Goods stand (priced higher) and the same GR merchandise found in the Grand Gifts store out front.

We then spent the remainder of our day casually exploring the rest of the park and taking in all of the attractions. One of the things I most love about Knotts Berry Farm is it's extraordinarily unpretentious western theming. Everything seems distinctly uncommercialized, and all the buildings and landscaping have a very natural, weathered appearance. The Boardwalk is the most high energy area in the park, but even this has a relaxed, casual feel. I love the different varieties of plants within the park, and there are many areas with interesting gardens and landscaping.

One such area is Camp Snoopy. I never really took the time to explore this part of the park before and it really deserves mention. This has to be one of the best children's parks in the world. The sheer number of rides and acreage devoted to children is awesome. But the thing that most impressed me is the landscaping. There is one area that has a beautiful series of waterfalls, with a high swinging bridge that overlooks the falls and rapids, and another low bridge that runs along the creek. And the rides within Camp Snoopy are the best I've ever seen for children. There's something to suit every age, thrill and skill level. But man, the atmosphere....if I were a kid, I'd wanna go to Camp Snoopy every weekend!

I also love the fountain in the Boardwalk area. With all the western theming nearby it almost looks out of place. But this fountain is an attraction all by itself, and it is magnificent!

Dana Hammontree, the Winter Solace event organizer, put together a coaster museum for event participants only. You had to show your wristband in order to enter the building, and inside was a fascinating display of coaster trains (including the Wacky Soap Box Derby Racers) pictures and information about rides old and new, nad aerial photos showing the expansion of Knotts Berry Farm over the years. It was also here that we exchanged our vouchers for an event t-shirt, and I was most impressed that there were plenty of shirts available in all sizes. There was also a huge Knotts 2000 calendar poster that I really wanted, but had no way to pack it.

Also inside the coaster museum were a series of guest speakers. I decided to duck out for an hour and take a nap in my car. Wouldn't you know, Robb Alvey was parked right next to me and he woke me up by banging on my car window repeatedly. I thought I was having a heart attack. Robb seems to take much pleasure in embarressing me/scaring me/lying to me. And he's one of my *good* friends!

We decided to eat dinner before taking a side trip to Adventure City. There was a HUGE line at the front of the restaurant, but we lucky event goers were given back door entrance with two private rooms and an ALL YOU CAN EAT CHICKEN DINNER BUFFET!

Oh joy! Oh rapture! All the little biscuits my heart can stand! Dave Sandborg took one look around and said "I can practically feel my arteries clogging." This is pure downhome comfort food at its finest: tossed salad, Knotts famous chicken noodle soup, rhubarb soup, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, corn, biscuits and boysenberry preserves, and boysenberry pie for dessert. I ate dinner with Dave Sandborg, Shawn Mamros, Cindy Stout, Ted Ansley, Wes and Chris. I ended up talking to Dana for quite awhile and congratulated her on the event. Then Robb introduced me to John Wray and I got a chance to talk with him for a bit. There was another man with John who's name escapes me, but I'd like to say thanks to everyone involved in this event, especially Dana Hammontree.

Oh yeah. What did I eat? Four biscuits, a salad, soup and pie. No chicken, no potatoes, no corn. Why? Because I was too busy yammering and didn't have time to go back for the main course! From now on I'm not talking during dinner!

A bunch of us took a side trip to Adventure City after dinner. The park gave ACE members a $5 admission, which I really appreciate, considering I came home with a total of six dollars in my pocket. We rode the two coasters. Tree Top Racers was fun!!! I really liked it, in fact I wish I could have ridden it some more. We also rode the Freeway Express or some such name - it was a Miler kiddie coaster. There was no leg room and it hurt my knees, but what an awesome kiddie coaster. It was built around a tree - at one point the track actually went over one of the limbs. It also had some nice rock landscaping around it. Adventure City is a great children's park. I also noticed a cute little gingerbread house, and inside were gingerbread cookies with cups of frosting that you could decorate your cookie with! Jake Messimer works here and I hope to come back and see him and ride the Tree Top Racers again!

Then came the rain.

Up until this point the day had been absolutely perfect! Jeff Johnson, Locoboy, Dave Sandborg and others decided to go to Scandia. Shawn Mamros looked like he didn't really want to go but went along anyway. It started to rain just as we were leaving Adventure City and I didn't want to waste my time driving all the way out there if it meant losing GhostRider time. As it turned out both coasters shut down due to the rain.

Why does Knotts Berry Farm shut down GhostRider in the rain? I can understand lightning or other threatening conditions, but what threat does rain pose?

I spent some time with Wes and Chris when we got back to the park, and even though we were just waiting out the rain, it was one of the funniest moments of the day. They told me all about their school film project, "Night of the Living Furby." They actually scripted, shot and edited this short subject and presented it to the school. They even took turns reenacting their scenes, with Chris' death scene being the funniest. Wes interpreted most of the storyline for me, and he had me laughing my head off. They also told me about their next project: a gay robot goes to high school. I forget the title but it sounds hilarious and the storyline contains alot of symbolism I actually understood.

We decided to ride Kingdom of the Dinosaurs. Listening to Wes go "we're going back in time!" over and over was almost as entertaining as the makeout couple in front of us. We then ran into Ted, Cindy, Dave, Shawn, Robb, Sarah and others and went to the Mystery Lodge.

The Mystery Lodge was very different from any other show I've ever seen at an amusement park. I liked it a lot. The storyline was rather weak, but the special effects and overall presentation were entertaining. And the narrator was... a mystery. Well, that is until Chris spilled the beans the second we walked out of the theatre, at which time Wes proceeded to tongue lash his friend and give him hateful looks for the next five minutes. Cindy and I talked about it a couple of days later and she finally guessed.

Robb said they wanted to walk over to Coasters for milkshakes (Robb didn't do a whole lot of riding on this day, he mostly hobnobbed), so about fifteen of us piled into the restaurant *just* as they were about to close. I mean, they had the cash registers covered, the counters wiped, the bins emptied and cleaned - they were shut down! You should have seen the looks on the employees' faces as all of us came charging in and started ordering items all over the place! To give credit where credit's due, I should say they were all extremely courteous and never once acted put upon. I was impressed.

By this time it had been several hours since I'd been on a thrill ride. Supreme Scream *more* than did the trick! The night rides are even scarier, or perhaps it has something to do with the tower you ride. In any case, Supreme Scream is my favorite drop ride. I like it even better than Giant Drops. It is *way up there* and truly scares me!

The rain stopped about an hour before ERT was scheduled to begin, and I could wait no longer for night rides on GhostRider. We made our way back and on our first ride all of us immediately knew we were in for some truly special rides. The coaster *F-L-E-W* through the track, and I'm serious when I say we were ALL screaming! Jeff Johnson was a hoot to watch - he really knows how to have fun! Locoboy was also having a great time and he showed me a trick I must have! Each ride left me breathless. I was literally panting after getting off each ride - that's how fast the coaster was flying! We all had huge smiles on our faces.

There was a sizeable crowd of high school prom goers still in the queue by 10:00, and I wondered if it would make our ERT session, scheduled to end at 11:00, somewhat disappointing. After all, the purpose of ERT is to get as many rides as possible, and with such a large crowd still waiting to ride, it looked like we'd end up with very few rides.

Well, that's exactly what happened, but it wasn't directly because of the crowd (although had they not been there at 10:00 we would have had more opportunity to ride). It was because of the rain. After my second ride the event goers were instructed to show our wristbands at the exit, at which time we received a complimentary admission ticket to Knotts, good anytime in the year 2000! Thanks, Knotts!

My final ride was with Jake Messimer, and it was in the rain. We rode in the backseat and it was like riding a bucking bronco! I flew out of my seat on every drop, after every hill, around each curve and over every speed bump. Both Jake and I were hanging on for our lives by the end! We flew into the brake run gasping for breath, and I yelled that this was the best ride I'd ever had on this coaster! Then I saw Cindy and Dave and the other riders getting out of the train in front of us. Uh oh. They were shutting down. We came back into the station and either Cindy or Dave gave me the thumbs up, so I screamed "THAT WAS THE BEST RIDE I'VE EVER HAD ON THIS COASTER!" Cindy said "Don't say that!!!" and Dave groaned. They looked dejected and I realized they weren't optimistic about getting another ride. Minutes later the ride ops informed us that they were indeed, shutting down GhostRider for the night. Everyone applauded graciously and it was time to leave.

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to everybody, so I'd like to take this opportunity to say how much fun I had. The weather wasn't *that* bad, and if Californians weren't so hysterical about raindrops (you should see their newscasts!!! "Our top story tonight, a FIERCE storm blankets the Los Angeles area, we have reporters standing by all over the metro area to bring you the latest details! Dallas?" "That's right, we've certainly seen our share of rough weather today! It rained! Water! All over! Aaaah!!!") I'm sure that ERT would have surpassed even the Stark Raven Mad event of 1998. GhostRider was *that* good tonight.

I'd also like to thank Knotts Berry Farm, and especially Dana Hammontree, for organizing such an incredibly impressive event. The food, the prizes, the ERT, the museum, the speakers - everything was first class all the way. If this becomes an annual event I have no doubt it will rank right up there with Phall Phunphest and Stark Raven Mad as THE premiere coaster events of the year.

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